BusTalk

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Fellows:

Through another board, I read that, sadly, by May, the once-commonplace RTS will be forever gone from the teeming streets of Gotham.

So hard to believe that the very first hit the streets just about 40 years ago (where does the time go?)

Like to many of us, I took the RTS for granted, and only started to appreciate them in their twilight years.

While I never got to ride an MTA RTS in the city, I did, a number of times, ride an ex-MTA unit on ACADEMY's #22 HILLSIDE, back in the later 90's.

I also rode those that NJT operated, starting around 1997.

We all knew the end of the fabled RTS was coming....but, now that that sad day is almost here, we come to realize that another colorful era in New York City bus history is about to come to a close.......memories, memories.....

"NYO"

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

In 1981, 2019 was still decades away.........

http://bus.nycsubway.org/perl/show?743

(courtesy: bus.nycsubway.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Looking towards the future (1981).........

http://bus.nycsubway.org/perl/show?2427

(courtesy: bus.nycsubway.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

1981, when the Future Was Now.......

http://bus.nycsubway.org/perl/show?1365

(courtesy: bus.nycsubway.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

This RTS (at least to me) seems to look quite proud of itself (is it, perhaps, that determined stance of confidence?)........

http://bus.nycsubway.org/perl/show?3462

(courtesy: bus.nycsubway.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Hard to believe that the winter of 2018/2019 was the last winter that the timeless RTS would see in service in New York......

http://bus.nycsubway.org/perl/show?1370

(courtesy: bus.nycsubway.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

At the time of the 2008 Bus Rodeo, this RTS was "just another bus" in the MTA fleet......

http://bus.nycsubway.org/perl/show?2589

(courtesy: nycsubway.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Back in 2000, this was simply just another New York street scene......

http://bus.nycsubway.org/perl/show?3461

(source: bus.nycsubway.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Ft. Washington & 193rd, 1983....who amongst us here, at the time, ever thought of such a scene, one day in the future, being fondly (and nostalgically) recalled......

http://bus.nycsubway.org/perl/show?765

(courtesy: bus.nycsubway.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

MABSTOA moments forever frozen in time (1981).......

http://bus.nycsubway.org/perl/show?757

http://bus.nycsubway.org/perl/show?759

(courtesy: bus.nycsubway.org0

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Broadway & 33rd, 1981.

Pure nostalgia.......

http://bus.nycsubway.org/perl/show?767

(courtesy: bus.nycsubway.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

I particularly like this 1983 shot of #2218 making the appointed rounds at Broadway & 159th St.; it just has a distinct "Noo Yawk" feel that I really love......

http://bus.nycsubway.org/perl/show?768

(courtesy: bus.nycsubway.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Just another wintry day in the Big Apple, 1983.

Again, such wintertime scenes, featuring the humble RTS, are now relegated to memory......

http://bus.nycsubway.org/perl/show?776

(courtesy: bus.nycsubway.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

Broadway & 33rd, 1983.......

http://bus.nycsubway.org/perl/show?1261

(courtesy: bus.nycsubway.org)

[NEW YORK OMNIBUS 2629]

The "GOLD EDITION" RTS........

http://bus.nycsubway.org/perl/show?3407

(courtesy: bus.nycsubway.org)